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Baltimore County Now

by Elise ArmacostDirector, Public Safety Office of Media & Communications

Remember the old urban legends about Halloween? The tainted candy and razor blade-stuffed apples, the creepy neighbor waiting – like the horrible “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” child catcher – to snatch up unsuspecting trick-or-treaters and spirit them to some evil place?

Those fears are the stuff of nightmares – but not necessarily of reality.

Yes, our police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel do advise you to check your kids’ Halloween treat bags for goodies that don’t look quite right; if it’s unwrapped, throw it out, if only because you don’t want anybody eating M&Ms that somebody else has touched with their bare hands.

And yes, children should be taught not to go inside strangers’ houses or cars, to look for the porch lights and familiar faces and trick-or-treat there.

But public safety officials agree that parents should not let worries about candy tampering and abduction by strangers stop them and their children from enjoying Halloween. These kinds of incidents are rare.

What you should worry about is something much more commonplace: Traffic.

Children walking in the dark – masked and costumed – in the early evening, when the roads still are busy, is a recipe for accidents.

A 2008 study of by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found that Halloween is the second-deadliest day of the year for pedestrians of all ages (behind New Year’s Day). For kids, Halloween may be the deadliest day of the year; the non-profit Safe Kids USA, a network of organizations dedicated to protecting children from accidental injury, reports that twice as many children are killed in pedestrian accidents on Halloween than on any other day.

Here are a few tips from the Police Department’s traffic experts on how to minimize the risks of pedestrian accidents on Halloween:

Though it sounds obvious, this rule bears repeating: Don’t let younger children trick or treat alone; an adult must go with them. Older children and teens should travel in groups.

Use flashlights. The biggest problem on Halloween is that trick-or-treaters are difficult to see in the dark. Reflective vests or strips are a great idea, but let’s face it: Many kids will balk at wearing them. Make them carry a flashlight.

If your child wears a mask, make sure they can see out of it. If they’re wearing a long costume, make sure it’s not so long that they’ll trip over it.

Follow traffic laws. Dashing across streets is risky, especially in the dark. Cross at crosswalks.

Pay attention to what’s going on. This can be hard for children caught up in the excitement of the evening, but police say it is essential – not just for avoiding traffic accidents but as protection against criminals who see an opportunity to grab an unsuspecting mother’s purse or a trick-or-treater’s bag of candy.

Of course, motorists bear responsibility, too, for avoiding accidents. Drivers know that Halloween is an unusual evening. Whether you’re coming home from work or heading off to a meeting or school event, ratchet down the speed while ratcheting up the attentiveness.

Recent coverage of the federal district court’s decision regarding pension contributions by Baltimore County employees does not accurately reflect how puzzling the court’s decision actually is and how harmful this decision could be for hard-working County employees. The EEOC’s press release should have been entitled, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Again.”To put it simply, Baltimore County’s retirement contribution schedule is not discriminatory, was negotiated by County labor groups, and is supported by years of sound actuarial studies.For a court to attempt to force Baltimore County to raise the pension contributions for nearly 8,000 County employees retroactively is simply wrong, and the County will stand with its employees and fight this case until there is no one left to fight.

The EEOC misstates and distorts the County’s retirement program, and allegations of discrimination are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and standard actuarial practice.The County’s member contribution rates for employees hired before July 1, 2007 were originally established in 1945 and then changed in 1977 to the benefit of older workers.The contribution rates are based on the long-held standard of the “time/value of money.” Perhaps the easiest way to think of what the time/value of money means in real terms is to think of a young family trying to save $100,000 for a new baby’s college fund.If one family starts saving for that fund on the day the baby is born while the family next door doesn’t start to save until the baby enters the ninth grade, obviously the yearly contribution necessary for the family that waited until 9th grade is drastically more than the family that started to save when the child was born.The retirement calculation is based on that very same principle, and it really is that simple.

Baltimore County Provided Early Retirement Benefit in 1973

Who in their wildest imagination could foresee that when the County provided a generous early retirement option for its employees in 1973 based upon years of service and not a set retirement age that the benefit would be characterized 39 years later as age discrimination?

Here are some other facts that have not been widely noted at this point in time:In its opinion, the court noted that “in 1973 the County, at no additional cost to employees, added a generous early retirement option based on years of service.” Such a benefit is explicitly authorized by the Federal Age Discrimination and Employment Act.It is a called a “safe harbor” for a fully subsidized early-retirement benefit paid for completely by the County. That is worth repeating – that early retirement option was paid for entirely by the Baltimore County Government and did not cost County employees anything. One has to ask the question, why would anyone who is being provided with such a generous retirement benefit complain about it?

In a retirement system with more than 10,000 employees and 6,500 retirees, two correctional officers originally filed a complaint with the EEOC in 1999 and 2000.After initial processing, the EEOC did nothing for nearly six years.They then contacted the County and advised that they were going to find the County in violation.After further discussion, the EEOC filed suit in 2007.The County won that lawsuit through a grant of summary judgment by the same federal court that just reversed itself on the very same issue.The EEOC appealed the original decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.A three judge panel in the Fourth Circuit posed a hypothetical question concerning the effect of the correctional officers’ twenty-year early service retirement benefit based upon the court’s determination that the employee contribution rates were based on the time/value of money, an actuarial calculation that remains unquestioned. The Fourth Circuit then remanded the case back to the lower court for a determination of the “financial considerations involved with the early retirement option.”

Baltimore County’s actuary, David Driscoll of Buck Consultants, clarified that the County provided the early retirement option in question at no cost to the employees.In other words, the County paid for the entire benefit.This meant that qualified workers could receive a full retirement after a set number of years, rather than waiting until they reach normal service retirement age. The EEOC did not produce an actuarial expert to refute even a single point that was presented by the County’s actuary.Even more disturbing is the fact that the courts are allowed to second guess sound financial advice given to the County by trained actuaries.County employees have every right to ask how on earth can this be happening.

In its opinion, the federal district court notes that contribution rates being attacked by the EEOC were calculated in 1977.It further notes, that, “As a result of the uniform reduction, older workers actually bore slightly less of the relative cost of their retirement benefits, while younger workers bore slightly more.”How is this age discrimination?

Decision Unfair to Current Employees

From a strictly legal perspective, the County believes that the court misinterpreted the law, and from a practical perspective, its decision is incorrect.The Supreme Court has made it clear that the EEOC bears the burden of establishing that age “actually motivated the employer’s decision.”The federal district court noted in his decision that the EEOC freely admits that there is no evidence to suggest that the County subjectively intended, at any point in the history of the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), to treat older workers less favorably than younger workers. According to a third-party actuarial firm, the County’s ERS contribution rates were based purely on financial considerations.

Overreach of Judicial and Federal Authority

I am often asked why the County is fighting this case with such determination.That is easy.The court or federal agency should not be allowed to order County government to increase pension contributions for nearly 8,000 workers arbitrarily.If the court’s ruling were to be upheld (which we do not anticipate), County employees would have to repay millions of dollars in pension funding.Their paychecks would be decreased as a result of this decision.That is simply wrong, and such action oversteps judicial and federal authority. The County will continue to resist the growing drumbeat to eliminate its defined-benefit pension plan in favor of a defined-contribution 401 K program.We will stand with our employees to protect a pension system that is fair for employees and sustainable for taxpayers.They deserve no less, and we will take this case all the way to the Supreme Court if that is what it takes to protect Baltimore County employees.

It’s a perfect match—a new Walmart and the Liberty Road communities.The parking lot was jammed with customers at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning when the long-awaited Walmart Supercenter opened at the Liberty Plaza Shopping Center in the heart of Randallstown. Walmart has hired 350 employees, with a large percentage of the workers living in Randallstown.

This national retailer is a long awaited, welcome addition to Randallstown. In 2003, over 400 Randallstown residents came together for a community planning and input meeting. Once message came through loud and clear—the community wanted new development and more shopping choices at two very large commercial sites that sat virtually dormant for many years. A new Home Depot opened at the Brenbrook Shopping Center in 2006.And now, Walmart and a redesigned Marshall’s are bringing national retailers to Liberty Plaza.

As County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said during the Walmart ground breaking on Valentines Day in 2011, in Randallstown, good things come to those who wait. Our Valentine date has finally arrived and is looking pretty good.